Roofing



ROOFING Filed Feb. '7, 1934 INVENTOR,

17 L 24. -ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 21, 1936 UNITED STATES FATENT OFFICE 8Claims.

. Weight.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a vertical section view on line l-l, Fig. 2;

Fig. 2 an elevation of a fragment of the improved roof;

Fig. 3 is a section on line 33, Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary plan, with the elements ll removed;

Fig]. 5 is an isometric view of the elements It and l Fig. 6 is asection of a modification of the roof on said line 3-3; and

Fig. '7 is a side elevation of one of the elements 5 on a larger scale.

At l are the roof rafters shown by Figs. I to 5) 2 is the roof sheathingsecured on the rafters. Paralleling the rafters and in the present casecoinciding therewith and suitably secured on the sheathing are thestrips 3 and 4 of which the strips 3 may be ordinary furring strips andthe strips 4, otherwise termed beams, may be somewhat narrower and eachof considerably greater vertical dimension than the strips 3 as shown inFig. 3.

My invention contemplates the use, in the portion of the roof coverwhich is to occupy the major part of the roof area, of elements comingalready formed in a standard size and rectangular shape and as fiatusually stiff sheets and composed of any material suitable for use asroof covering,'as asbestos or other composition material. Theseelements, which I term the main or covering elements, are indicated at 5and they will usually have such appreciable horizontal or long dimensionas nearlyto span the distance between a roof rafter and the next but oneor more rafters and a somewhat shorter transverse dimension; forinstance, when the rafters are two feet apart on centers, the dimensionsof each such element may be approximately S'Hl" x 2. They are to be laidin side by side series so that in each series each element shall overlapsomewhat the one next below.

and (in the form In the preferred form each element is shaped to imitatelengthwise panels of equal width and in parallel planes inclined to thenormal or original plane of the sheet forming such element, as bybending the material lengthwise at intervals 5 to form the rises 6 andleave the mentioned panels 1. As to that panel of each element whichafter such bending has its free margin in said normal plane the edgethereof is bent up, as at 8, whereas as to that panel which is left withits free margin elevated out of said plane the edge thereof is bentdownwardly and returned, as at 9, the bends at 8 and 9 beingsubstantially right-angular.

The adjoining side edges of any two adjoining series of the elements 5must be supported and held down and means provided for shedding anywater which might find its way between them. Hence I provide for eachsuch edge an underneath telescoped series of supporting andwatershedding gutter elements Ill and a superimposed telescoped seriesof water-shedding and retaining elements ll. These may be formed of thesame material as the elements 5 and molded, pressed or otherwise formedto shape.

Each element I0 is trough-shaped and has its side walls converging fromone end to the other of the element, and one suchwall Illa preferablyhigher than the other, these elements being constructed in this respectas rights and lefts. The

narrower end of each such element is to be received in the wider end ofits neighbor so that when the series is arranged at an incline with thewider ends of the elements up an effective water shedding gutter will beproduced.

Each element II is likewise trough-shaped, being adapted to be arranged,however, in inverted position and its side walls also converge from oneend to the other; each of its side walls, as Ila, is stepped to matchand snugly fit the 40 stepped form of the elements 5, and. its top walll lb is preferably pitched in both directions from the center plane. Thenarrower'end of each such element is to be received in the wider end ofits neighbor so that when the series is arranged at an incline with thenarrower ends of the elements up an effective water-shedding shield isformed.

In laying the roof cover the work is done up the pitch of the roof.First the gutter elements I I! (one right and the other left) areattached to the opposite sides of the strips or beams 4, as by nailingthem thereto at l2, Fig. 3, preferably until two complete gutters areleft flanking each such strip. Then the elements 5 are laid on andnailed at their upper edges, as at l3, to the furring strips 3, oneafter another up the pitch, their side edges resting on the lower sidewalls of the elements IQ and the returned lower edge of each in anyseries overlapping the upper edge of the one below. Finally, theelements H are laid on and nailed at their upper edges, as at M, to thestrip 4, one after another up the pitch, the stepping of their sidewalls being made exactly to fit or mesh with that of the elements 5 andthe lower edge of each overlapping the one below.

In Fig. 6 the elements 5, l0 and H are the same as in Figs. 1 to 5. Butsince in this case the roof frame is without sheathing and furringstrips I provide on the alternate rafters superposed strips or beams i5and strips I5 flanking them and below the top surface of the rafters,the elements ill resting on the strips t6 and the elements l Istraddling and resting on the strips l5; both sets of elements 50 and IIare nailed to these strips 15.

At the peak of the roof an element I1, substantially of the same form aseach element H, may straddle the joint between each two oppositelypitched series of elements 5 and be nailed to the ridgepiece 58, thesame being in length equal to the width of the elements 5 and itselfstraddled by lateral inverted trough-shaped extensions lsa of capelements l9 each comprising two inverted trough-shaped elements formedas a unit and reversely pitched. And the lowest element in each seriesof elements I! may have some form such as that shown at Ha: which willmake it ornamental and afford protection against the weather.

Since the depending flanges or side walls of the shield formed by theelements I! bear upon the elements 5 they act as hold-downs therefor andwhen their edges are stepped to conform and mesh with the stepping ofthe covering formed by the elements 5 the shield not only coacts withthe nailing at E3 to support the elements 5 but to exclude snow, sleetand, to a considerable extent, rain-water. The parts Hi, H and 4 (orIII, H and I5) form housings into which the side edges of the coveringsproject (to wit, through the slots formed between the edges of theelements IE) and H) and any water which may enter these housings willdrip from said edges of the coverings into the gutters formed byelements it and drain oif to the main gutter as shown at 3:. It will benoted that each housing forms a void around the received edgeportion ofeach covering; in other words, that there is no broad surface-to-surfacecontact between the received part of the covering and the interior ofthe housing. This discourages the travel of admitted moisture bycapillary attraction and encourages the drying of such moisture.

The bends in the elements 5 between their panels and at their upper andlower edges reinforce said elements against the weight of the roofer andbesides insure against their warping; the bend at the lower edge is arebend so as to afford a surface-to-surface rather than anedgeto-surface contact with the next underlapping element, thusreinforcing said edge against angular displacement under the weight ofthe roofer. Where each two adjoining elements 5 lap a void 28 isdesirably left between the bend 8 of one and that 9 of the other againto discourage the travel upward of moisture by capillary attraction.

For the material of the elements 5, I0 and H there may in some cases beused sheet metal having a composition on one or both sides.

Having thus fully described my invention what I claim is:

1. Roofing including a pair of parallel gutters, separate coverings ofstiff sheet material arranged one on each side of the pair of guttersand respectively resting at their adjoining edge portions on the edgesof the relatively outer sides of the gutters with their own edges forsubstantially the full length thereof respectively over the channels ofthe gutters, said gutters and coverings being inclined, and supportingstructure including an elongated member extending lengthwise of andspacing the gutters and to which the gutters are rigidly securedindependently of the coverings.

2. Roofing including a pair of parallel gutters, separate coverings ofstiff sheet material arranged one on each side of the pair of guttersand respectively resting at their adjoining edge portions on the edgesof the relatively outer sides of the gutters with their own edges forsubstantially the full length thereof respectively over the channels ofthe gutters, said gutters and coverings being inclined, an inclinedinverted trough-shaped element overhanging said edge portions of thecoverings, and supporting structure including an elongated memberextending lengthwise of and spacing the gutters and carrying saidelement and to which the gutters are rigidly secured independently ofthe coverings.

3. Roofing including an inclined gutter comprising a series oftrough-shaped elements each having its upper end wider than its lowerend,

and receiving the lower end of the element next above, inclined coveringof stiff sheet material having one inclined margin overhanging thegutter, an inclined elongated shield over said margin of said coveringand to which the gutter is rigidly secured independently of the coveringand comprising a series of inverted troughshaped elements each havingits lower end wider than its upper end and receiving the upper end ofthe complementary element next below, and supporting structure for saidgutter, covering and shield.

4. Roofing including a gutter having one side wall higher than theother, a covering of stiff sheet material resting on the lower side wallof the gutter with one of its edges for substantially its full lengthover the channel of the gutter, said gutter and covering being inclined,and fixed structure supporting the gutter and covering.

5. Roofing including a gutter, a covering oi stiff sheet material havingone edge over the channel of the gutter, and supporting structure forthe covering and gutter including a beam in a plane outwardly flankingsaid edge of the covering and to which the gutter is rigidly securedindependently of the covering.

6. Roofing including a gutter, a covering of stiff sheet material havingone edge over the channel of the gutter, supporting structure for thecovering and gutter including a beam in a' plane outwardly flanking saidedge of the covering and to which the gutter is rigidly securedindependently of the covering, and a shield carried by the beam andoverhanging said edge of the covering.

7. Roofing including a pair of parallel gutters, separate coverings ofstiff sheet material arranged one on each side of the pair of guttersand each having an edge thereof over the channel of thecorrespondinggutter, and supporting structure for the coverings and gutters includinga beam in a plane between said edges of the coverings and to which thegutters are rigidly secured independently of the coverings.

8. Roofing including a pair 01' parallel gutters, separate coverings ofstiff sheet material arranged one on each side of the pair of guttersand each having an edge thereof over the channel of the correspondinggutter, supporting structure for the coverings and gutters including abeam in a plane between said edges of the coverings and to which thegutters are rigidly secured independently of the coverings, and.shielding means carried by the beam and overhanging said edges of thecoverings.

' JAMES L. HOLT.

